A friend of mine ran a 19 minute 5K, and I've advised to go for it a bit more serious. He's 18 at the moment, has he got any talent?
A friend of mine ran a 19 minute 5K, and I've advised to go for it a bit more serious. He's 18 at the moment, has he got any talent?
That doesn't really tell us anything. I've seen guys run much faster off no training. But he very well could be a talent. What is his frame/physique like? Is he an efficient runner?
For reference I ran 19 minutes as well untrained my first time running a 5km. Was running 16 minutes 3 months later and 14 minutes 3 years later. So I was decent but not super talented. It took some time to get into the 14's which isn't really even that good.
Probably anywhere from about 15 flat to 18 flat, but could go under that. At 18 with zero training, other than being active, I did a progression at avg low 6s. Got more serious about it and ran low15s. But that took several years.
I had a friend who did no sports or running but was a farmer. He was interested in a girl on the XC team. He wanted to know if he should ask her to go for a run.
My first comment was not if he was going to be out of breath the entire run. He asked how fast she might run and since there was no good way to explain it, we went for a run. I started off at 8 min pace got down to 7:00 at about 3 miles. He was running so easily that we decided to try 6:00s. We ran the next 3 miles in 18:00.
He never ran on a team nor raced, ever. He did eventually pace the girl, his wife, to a 3:00 marathon. Most people would say my friend was talented but he really wasn't. He had NO INTEREST whatsoever in how fast he could run. The farmer he worked for said he had NEVER seen anyone work as hard and he paid him twice what he paid everyone else because he was worth it. That work got him in good shape. On his own, he never would have run a step except to run with his future wife.
DaveF wrote:
....Was running 16 minutes 3 months later and 14 minutes 3 years later. So I was decent but not super talented. It took some time to get into the 14's which isn't really even that good.
Oh will you please stfu?
That's like 6:07 pace. I definitely think that's solid for being untrained.
Thanks for the replies lads. My guess is that he's around 178-180cm and probably weighs like 64 kg/ 140 pounds so he's pretty slim I'd say. Not sure whether he's an efficient runner.
And by the way, from 19 to 16 in 3 months? That's very impressive. Might be much to ask but do you mind sharing that training program if you still have it?
Haha lovely story mate!
KipropsThighs wrote:
A friend of mine ran a 19 minute 5K, and I've advised to go for it a bit more serious. He's 18 at the moment, has he got any talent?
How much training has he done? Other sports and activities count as training.
Considering I've been running for over 5 years, logged 7000+ miles, with up to 50mpw, and that my 5k PR is 19:10, I'd say I hate your friend.
I'm 32, male.
I supposed my 10k (high 38) and half (1:26) are slightly better, but still, this is pathetic.
Some people are just good!
Well I don't know everything about him but he used to play soccer like 1½ years ago, and stopped since. So I guess he hasn't been doing any training besides gym probably, and the occasional soccer game with friends the last year.
Of course he has talent. Most people struggle mightily to break 19 in a 5k after training for years. Most high school kids with no mileage and no fitness would not be able to keep running for an entire 5k at a moderate pace. He definitely has 15:XX potential. Beyond that, it is hard to tell because talent can only get you so far.
the ability to improve on "base line" fitness is a factor in talent. I have no problem running 20:xx on no training, and 19:xx on like 10 mpw and 18:35 was run on like 15 mpw on a hot summer day with a major headache. But on 50-60 mpw for a over a year with plenty of quality, I'm not 100% sure I will be breaking 17:30.
All right, thank you very much for your answers guys. I'll definitely try to persuade him to join our track club ;)
And just another last question. Do any of you know a good training program for a guy like him? Thanks!
Was this in a race? A measured course? 19:00 or 19:59?
Lots of times guys will seemingly show up with no training at all and run surprisingly fast. Usually it turns out, though, that the guy has been playing soccer 7 days/week in two leagues that he bikes 10 miles each way to get there. Who knows, though? Didn't Craig Virgin show up to XC practice, having been cut from football and run a 4:40 mile or something? Of course that's Craig Virgin, but, yeah they're out there.
19.02 in a race on a measured course. The guy stopped playing soccer more than a year ago, but he used to play 3 times a week. After that all he did was basically playing League of Legends and drinking coke.
if someone has infinitely small fitness, but they are able to run 19:00 for 3.11 miles, they are infinitely talented.
I ran a 19:00 5k when I was 14 years old. I was a soccer player then. Had training twice a week and once a week a match. Two years later I started running and now I'm 20 and run 15:2x. I am more speed oriented.
Playing soccer 3 times a week a year and a half ago is not "zero mileage and no fitness at all." Granted it was 18 months ago but if he played for many years there would be some residual 'fitness'. And my guess is he probably still dinks around with a ball and jumps in a pickup match now and then.